Village Gamer

The Canadian Film Centre, together with Corus Entertainment, Google and Shaw Media, announced the selection of six companies to participate in ideaBOOST, an intensive business accelerator for early stage companies focused on creating content and enabling technologies for the media and entertainment industry. These early stage companies will form ideaBOOST’s second cohort, which begins May 21. An additional nine companies will participate in a newly launched affiliate program.

The six companies forming the cohort will receive $15,000 in seed capital for their project as well as mentoring by thought leaders from the technology, business, marketing, media and product communities. In addition, founding partners Shaw Media, Corus Entertainment and Google Inc. will offer program participants strategic guidance over the course of the four-month boot camp-style program, as well as the potential for capital investment at exit.

“The deep involvement of ideaBOOST’s founding partners-Shaw Media, Corus Entertainment and Google-all of whom recognize the importance of creating opportunities for the next generation of media and entertainment innovators is what sets our accelerator apart,” said Ana Serrano, Chief Digital Officer of the CFC. “Their commitment, along with the breadth and depth of the companies vying to be part of the second ideaBOOST cohort, resulted in a decision to launch an Affiliate Program so that we could include all the companies that made our short list.”

ideaBOOST received hundreds of applications from companies in major cities all over Canada. A dynamic online selection process that identified audience interest, complemented by a professional jury that assessed business potential, narrowed the number of entrants down to just 15 finalists. The final six companies were chosen by ideaBOOST executives and founders Shaw Media, Google and Corus Entertainment.

“ideaBOOST has expanded the call to include both the stories and the means by which they are produced, delivered, and ultimately experienced by the audience,” said Scott Dyer, Chief Technology Officer, EVP Shared Services for Corus Entertainment. “With these projects we see new ways to use content to engage and shape an audience by focusing on storytelling, user generated content, analytics and more.”

“Once again, we are pleased to see the very high quality of companies applying to ideaBOOST,” said Peter Bissonnette, President, Shaw Communications. “We’re excited about the prospect of helping developers of new enabling technologies work directly with content creators to find ways to engage our audiences in innovative ways that tap into their ever-changing media and entertainment consumption habits.”

“We are in the early days of a fundamental shift in the way content is created and delivered,” added Jeremy Butteriss, Director, Strategic Partnerships for Google Canada. “For this reason it is important to catalyze both content and technology developers in Canada. ideaBOOST hopes to help in both regards with our new cohort.”

Introducing the ideaBOOST Spring Cohort:

• AlertTV
• Bemused Network
• Instaradio
• Lightning Platform
• Motion Panels
• Wondereur

ideaBOOST’s first Affiliate Program will enable companies who made it to the shortlist to participate in a select number of ideaBOOST sessions, peer-to-peer learning and strategic assessment modules. ideaBOOST’s goal is to strengthen the Canadian ecosystem by exposing a wider network of early-stage companies to potential partners and customers. For the full list of ideaBOOST companies, visit the Shortlist.